Mamdani came to power in New York on an ambitious platform of public service delivery, and not just because this is the right thing to do, but because investment in a city’s people and built environment pays off handsomely.
The best time to invest in New York City was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. For Mamdani to make those investments and correct the failures of his predecessors, he needs to find some money.
Mamdani’s proposal for finding this money sounds pretty conservative: he’s going to cut waste in government. He’s ordered each city agency to appoint a “Chief Savings Officer” who will “review performance, eliminate waste and streamline service delivery.” These CSOs are supposed to find a 1.5% across-the-board savings this year and 2.5% next year:
https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/01/mayor-mamdani-signs-exec…
Does this sound like DOGE to you? It kind of does to me, but – crucially – this is mirror-world DOGE. DOGE’s project was to make cuts to government in order to make government “run like a business.” Specifically, DOGE wanted to transform the government into the kind of business that makes cuts to juice the quarterly numbers at the expense of long-term health:
But Mamdani’s mirror-world DOGE is looking to find efficiencies by cutting things like sweetheart deals with private contractors and consultants, who cost the city billions. It’s these private sector delegates of the state that are the source of government waste and bloat.
Lambert here: But little Madison needs their violin lessons!
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